Ifraz Ahmed is the Director of Birmingham Events limited, which organises and promotes numerous award events across the West MIdlands. Namely, the Birmingham Awards, Women in Tech Awards, Midland Food, Drink & Hospitality Awards and the Midland Property & Investment Awards.
- Tell us a little bit about your business…
Birmingham Events Limited is an events hosting company, primarily organising black tie award dinners across a wide variety of industries, with the aim of recognising and celebrating the talented individuals and businesses across the region, as well as providing valuable networking opportunities for all who attend. Our events aim to garner a collective celebration, as opposed to the more industry selective type of awards which we feel reduce the community building element that events like ours should have.
2. How did you get into the industry?
My business partner and I were travelling back from an awards ceremony called the Manchester Awards when we thought…why isn’t anyone in Birmingham doing an event like this? And why don’t we do it!? Being a proud Brummie, I felt it was a great shame that the city didn’t have an event of this nature, where those of all industries gathered together to rejoice in the city’s progression. So, we plucked up the courage and organised our very first event and the rest as they say, is history.
3. What are the biggest opportunities and challenges in your industry?
Opportunities – Building a massive network for our sponsors, attendees and also ourselves. The aspect of our events which I’m most proud of is that we’ve created a level playing field for anyone to communicate with anyone. Those who have been trying to get through to the right person at an organisation for years have been able to instantly strike up a conversation at our events. People have even been offered jobs at our events believe it or not!
Challenges – Getting people into one room on the day is always the challenge in our industry. The worry of getting it right, what we should be offering attendees, and putting on the best show possible, and choosing the right type of venue.
4. How would you describe your leadership style?
The antithesis of micro management. I always surround myself with people who have excellent skill sets in their various fields and trust them to do their jobs to an excellent level. I’ve found that this allows individuals to play to their strengths and yields the best end result for all.
5. How do you get the most out of the people who work for you?
Give them autonomy and freedom. If you trust people to do the job, they value the trust you place in them and push that extra bit harder to achieve our collective goals. Transparency is another important aspect. The truth, whether it be good, bad or indifferent, needs to be told from all sides.
6. What are the most crucial elements to your business running smoothly and being successful?
Having the right team of individuals in place. The production team, the host, entertainment, etc.
Premium quality is a must all round, and we are sticklers for ensuring that our production value is always going to impress and engage compared to our competitors.
7. How has the past 12 months been for you?
Difficult in all honesty. Not being able to host events in the last year or so would drastically impact any events business. However, the pandemic gave us plenty of time and headspace for future planning. We reevaluated, had moments of clarity and are thoroughly excited to bring our vision to reality as restrictions ease.
8. Is there anything you’ve learnt during the pandemic that you’ll take forward in your business?
Realising our strength and conviction, and ensuring that our brands are stronger than they were previous. The market has shrunk, so we are going to have to adapt and do things slightly differently, but with confidence to prove to people that we can host incredible events once again.
9. What will the next 12 months look like for your business?
Head down. We have planned events for the next 12 months and our goal is to prove to people once again that we can deliver in the post-pandemic world. Essentially, we’re picking up where we left off but we have to work harder and smarter to ensure high quality, professional and safe events for all.
10. What are the highlights of your career so far?
Out of the many ventures I’ve embarked on, the events side has been the highlight so far. Meeting an array of individuals provides you with so many different outlooks on life, and becoming an established brand that people know, respect and want to be part of is always going to be one of my highlight achievements. When we started the events, it was difficult to receive nominations for our awards but now, they are coming through thick and fast across our various events!
11. What’s the biggest business mistake that you’ve learnt from?
Choosing the wrong type of host or entertainment. We learned that the hard way. At one particular event, a sponsor was very keen to have entertainment which involved providing tables with more inflatable beach balls than you could count. Against our better judgement, we agreed to have this entertainment which resulted in utter beach ball bedlam, resulting in drinks flying around left right and centre with probably close to 100 inflatables flying around the event space. Never again.
12. What’s the best piece of business advice you’ve been given?
Follow your heart, don’t think too much about it and don’t procrastinate. Life is simply too short to wait around and not put your time and energy into doing things which you’re truly passionate about. Don’t waste time, make the necessary changes you need to and it will result in a far happier and more fulfilled life than you could possibly imagine.
